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A 'robot scientist' that is just as effective yet much cheaper than a human has designed and conducted genetic experiments. And it doesn't stop work to sleep or eat cold pizza.

Computer expert Professor Stephen Muggleton at Imperial College London and colleagues created the robot to see how they could free up scientists from the routine analytical chores of genome research.

They published their results of their three-year trial in the latest issue of the journal Nature.

The researchers programmed their creation to figure out the function of a set of genes in brewer's yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

They programmed the robot with background information about how genes work as well as a model of the type of experiment to be carried out. They then linked it up to handle standard lab equipment. The only role that humans played was to carry test dishes to and from an incubator.

Using two software packages, the robot used artifical intelligence to find which set of genes controlled the breakdown of essential amino acids in the yeast.

It had to compare normal and mutant strains of the yeast, using different nutrients, and measuring the resultant growth.

The robot worked in cycles. First it observed, then it generate hypotheses to explain these observations. The next step was to think up experiments to test the hypotheses, run them and interpret the results. The robot then applied what it had learned to repeat the cycle and start again.

The robot was 98% accurate at finding out the function of the yeast genes, about the same as a graduate student doing the same experiments. But it did not need to perform as many experiments. This was because its 'hypothesis generator', a program to devise and test theories, found solutions more quickly.

As a result, its costs were around two-thirds that of a human.

Muggleton's team said the next challenge would be to take a step into the void and ask the system to uncover the functions of genes whose roles are currently unknown.

If this works, the scientists believe the system could be used to explore pathways to devise new drugs.

Another team member, Professor Stephen Oliver from the University of Manchester, said robots in the lab would ultimately benefit humans.

"As with many other developments in the lab, it will hopefully give people more time to do the creative part of the work," he said.

The researchers said they had no plans to mass produce the robot but said they would sell the instructions to make it.